finished quilt and the best gift ever

So Michelle (ilikeorangetoo) and I decided ages ago to do a swap, and planned to do it in person while together at Sew South. It was meant to be something small- a pouch, oven mitts, whatever, but a bunch of stuff happened this year for both of us personally, so it looks like, unbeknownst to the other, we both upped the ante!

I decided to make her a quilt, using my scraps from her favourite fabric line ever, Good Folks by Anna Maria Horner.  I didn't have much, so improvised a design based on my Liberty iPad mini cover I made, and both inspired by this mini quilt I saw on Pinterest.

I used a variety of low volume fabrics for the background, quilted it in swirly loops reminiscent of flight.  I named it "Migration", and even made a groovy label ;)  The back is a silky soft AMH voile, of course!

In return, I too received a quilt.  But not just ANY quilt.  A freaking epic all voile masterpiece that was entirely HAND QUILTED.  Are you kidding me???

I died.  I certainly cried.  I was so overwhelmed by her work and her generosity.  This is the first quilt I have ever had made for me, and it is so, so precious.

It was even touched and admired by The Great One herself!

And it has been getting plenty of use at my home.  Thank you again, Michelle, for this incredible gift.     You must really like me.  ;) xoxox

my new favourite quilt.

Okay, it is not so new.  I have been sleeping under this for a month or more now.

My favourite Anna Maria Horner Good Folks fabric.  Pieced with love on a weekend away in Atlanta, it will always remind me of that trip and bonding with my quilty friends.

Quilted by the amazing Krista in an all over loop pattern.  The texture is perfect on this monster sized quilt, a large king at 120" by 90".

Buttery voile on the back, so soft on the skin. It is the perfect weight for summer. I love how it welcomes me to bed every night.

My favourite. Now I just need to make me some matching pillowcases and shams :)

 

Atlanta trip- the sewing

I had one goal and one goal only while in Atlanta: work on my Good Folks king quilt.  And...I even finished the top!!

I have had this bundle of Good Folks for almost 3 years, and was too paralyzed to cut it.  I knew I wanted something special just for me.  Finally, I decided it was Time.  And go big or go home....how about a king quilt for our bed?

Being a king quilt, I wanted larger blocks to keep things proportional.  And, I am not gonna lie to you, I didn't want to spend a million years cutting teeny tiny pieces, so that by the time it was done, I hated the thing. Besides, Anna Maria's fabrics look amazing in larger chunks.  These blocks finish up at 15" each.

I am happy to say (and I have witnesses), that not only was I gushing and giddy the entire time that I was sewing this top, I didn't even utter a single swear word during its construction.  True story!

It came together much faster than I had even dared to dream it would.  But I was on a mission.  Juki and I went hard!

I decided to use a mixture of low volume fabrics as my neutral, and this is one of my favorite parts of the quilt.

I bought a bunch of buttery Little Folks voile for the back.

 

This baby finishes up at 120" by 90"!  It will be sent to Krista to do some quilting magic :)